Education Reform and Social Change

<p><i>Education Reform and Social Change</i> is about addressing and changing the structures policies and practices of schools that differentially advantage white middle class native English speakers over students of color for whom English may be a second or additional language. It is also about helping people to think critically about what it is schools do and to consider more democratic participatory and equitable approaches. <br><br> The chapters in the text provide first-hand documentation of the voices struggles and visions of students parent activists advocates attorneys and educators involved in educational and social change processes. It chronicles real-life efforts of people challenging the status quo and working to build a more participatory equitable and transformative future. <br><br> The goal of this book is twofold: first to consider the structures policies and practices that shape and limit educational change and learning and teaching; and second to document grassroots collaborative and creative efforts to change them. It offers a critical framework both for conceptualizing and for actualizing educational change. <br><br> Organized into four sections this book provides a theoretical and practical framework for thinking about educational reform and social change -- one that moves from the broader structural concerns that are embedded in policy to case studies that document activism and collaborative efforts to change school city and state policies to classroom-based directions and initiatives and to the construction of personal and collective visions for a more democratic equitable and just education. Each section includes an overview of the chapters necessary background information to help the reader contextualize what follows and guiding questions to encourage reflective thought and engagement with the text and to invite personal linkages. Two resource sections are included at the end of the volume: Radical Educational Reform Critical Pedagogy and Multicultural Education: Selected Readings and Resources and National Organization Networks and Resources with a Critical Perspective.</p>